US wheat hits new contract lows; soy, corn sink too

CHICAGO: US wheat futures sank to their lowest since January 2018 on Monday, pressured by plentiful stocks that were providing overseas buyers with multiple options for supplies when looking for export deals.

The weakness in wheat weighed on corn, which was on track for its fourth straight day of declines.

Soybeans also were lower as dissipating hopes for a trade deal between the United States and China outweighed any positive reaction from the announcement of a fresh U.S. soybean sale to China, the world's largest buyer of the oilseed.

"I think it is a little bit of a disappointment with the Chinese deal falling through," said Bill Gentry, managing director of agriculture consulting at Risk Management Commodities. "I think the trade has just given up that it is going to happen anytime soon."

Investors were waiting for fresh export inspections data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The closely-watched weekly report, which is typically released at 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT) on Monday, was delayed due to technical difficulties.

At 11:09 a.m. CDT (1609 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May soft red winter wheat futures were down 4-1/2 cents at $4.35 a bushel. All traded contract months hit new lows.

Bearish sentiment in wheat has been fanned by concern that export demand is lagging, despite increasingly competitive U.S. prices, and early prospects for large harvests in Europe and Russia this year.

CBOT May corn futures were down 3/4 cent at $3.63-1/4 a bushel.

"Corn tried to bounce overnight, as its world balance sheet grew a bit tighter, but it's fighting a significant downdraft from the rest of the grain sector," Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at INTL FCStone, said in a note to clients.

CBOT May soybeans were 3-3/4 cents lower at $8.92 a bushel. The most-active soybean contract hit its lowest on a continuous basis since Dec. 28.

USDA said that private exporters reported the sale of 968,000 tonnes of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2018/19 marketing year.

The deal follows the announcement of a 664,000-tonne purchase on Friday but totals have fallen well short of the 10 million tonnes that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that China had promised to buy as part of trade negotiations.